Great fitness sites

I think it was you who recently pointed out that Agassi benches over 300 lbs. You don't think that helps his forehand? Do you not think that's 'bulking up'. You don't get that strong without growing some new muscle, and you can't grow new muscle without eating more calories than you use through daily activities.

The challenge for a tennis player is to become as strong as possible without packing on too much extra weight. That's a tough thing to do. However, I think being stronger provides enough benefit to overcome the disadvantage of being heavier - within moderation. I think the 170 - 180 lb weight range for someone just under 6', maybe even a bit heavier, is ok for tennis. You'd be surprised how much muscle you can have packed on at this weight.

Here's something to think about ...

I played seriously in high school at about 130 lbs. I stopped playing after high school but picked up weight lifting. When I started tennis again, I was around 180 lbs. But despite the extra 50 lbs, I'm much faster and I hit the ball harder with less effort.

In regards to your bodybuilder reference, competitive bodybuilders train only for size and definition. Their goal is presentation. Athletes lift weights to gain strength and stability. Their goal is functional. Just because you're lifting weights, even if they're heavy weights, doesn't mean you're 'training like a bodybuilder'. Is Agassi a bodybuilder because he can bench press over 300 lbs? And do you think there's a lot of decatheletes that can bench that much? It's possible, but I highly doubt it. The more endurance based a sport is, the harder it is for it's athlete to maintain muscle.

I think too many tennis players are like many women with respect to weightlifting. They have the gross misconception that if they touch a weight, they are going to become huge like Arnold.

Anyone who is healthy, in good shape, and is looking to get stronger for tennis can't go wrong with picking a few good compound exercises like squats, deadlifts, chin ups, incline bench press, etc, and trying to add a few pounds each week.

I agree that flexibility and speed are important also. Especially flexibility. My main point is that tennis players shouldn't be so afraid of 'bulking up'. It's hard to gain muscle without gaining a little fat, just keep it under control. Give it a try and you'll realize how much work it is to put on just a few pounds of new muscle.

that is a not-for-profit fitness research site catering more to those who would like to understand how exactly fitness training is supposed to affect our bodies. Has anybody come across this, and has anybody found it useful?

Free workouts, warm ups, prehab, drills, exercise videos, and articles. Made by collegiate strength coaches and researchers for anyone and everyone to use. By registering, which is also free, you can enter in your training maxes for the lifts and print out custom strength workouts for yourself.

Yes I agree tennis players should not train like bodybuilders, but anyone that is saying that this sight is not an invaluable asset for athletes obviously has not been to the site. They have many articles on agility, conditioning, and even tennis specific articles. It is not just for bodybuilders.

for what???, doesn't seem to be any serious info there. You think this guy will give you the determination, understanding and motivation you've lacked up until this point? You've got to find it within yourself, not an e-book, class or elsewhere. You've been trying to get in shape and loose weight for how long????
Like an alcoholic in recovery addicted to AA, substitute on excuse for another.

The best people person in terms of strength coaching, if it wasn't for this guy I would not enjoy lifting as much as I do today. His writing is very easy to read as it is honest and humorous at times.

His teaching methods of lifts is far simpler than any other coach, he teaches idiot-proof lifting as I call it.

I also suggest getting his book which is probably more of a lesson on life than lifting, but also gives you tons of information on lifting. I got his first DVD (Everything's Over My Head) and it's a great at teaching you Oly Lifts. If I had the money I would definitely get his new 4-part DVD series, just looking at the previews on youtube tells me it's well worth the price.

http://www.TennisFitnessLove.com
I have there a collection of short articles on tennis specific fitness, from the angle of creating balance in the body. The imbalances that tennis creates cause future injuries. If we learn how to listen to our body and understand what it is telling us, we can get rid of those imbalances before they cause us problems. It's pretty simple, if we are aware... but it takes practice to become aware. Like with any other mastery...

Here is a nice site that gives an overview of lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow). It summarizes (in regular english we all can understand) the medical evidence contained in peer-reviewed medical journals, about the condition itself and the various tennis elbow treatments: http://www.tenniselbowfoundation.org

Does anyone have a good website that deals strictly with body weight exercises? When I travel and I'm away from a gym I'd like to still be able to workout. Thanks.

Click to expand...

Matt, I have tons of body weight exercises for tennis players on my tennis fitness training site. Even though lately I added kettlebells there too, you can just ignore them. The rest is without any equipment and all great exercises for tennis players: lower body, core, shoulder stabilizers (the articles are actually chapters of the book that was created for the same purpose: it is small with independent chapters, so players can carry it in their tennis bag everywhere they go and workout on the court after their practice ). You can find there stretching and myofascial release too.

Against 25-year-old ex-collegiate players, I'd run out of gas. I started doing p90x and Insanity, and they were great, but not tennis specific. I adapted these programs and other great training techniques and developed fitnessfortennis.com.

Against 25-year-old ex-collegiate players, I'd run out of gas. I started doing p90x and Insanity, and they were great, but not tennis specific. I adapted these programs and other great training techniques and developed fitnessfortennis.com.

I understand. I'm 33 in August and in WAY WAY WAYYYYY better shape than I was at 16-17 years old. I weighed 155 in high school and was a toothpick. Now I'm 6'3" and 205, and I wear people 15 years younger than I am out.

I have not been on here for a while. Sorry for the very late reply. Yes, the drills are fine to do with an 11 year old girl. Along with Sly Black, I am currently working in Boca Raton, Florida with some of the top 11 and 12 year old girls in the country. We have a boy and a girl that have a good chance at the upcoming nationals and the drills are fine for that age group. If you will be there, I will be glad to speak with you and provide you with and idea of my physical conditioning drills and philosophy.

I am not 100% sure who you are, but I may have met you at Rick Macci's a few years ago. Didn't you play college tennis sometime in the early 1990's when I was at UNF?